Broken Hearts
by Kaslo
Summary: Why should it always be Ayame who confesses? ayaxtori, major OOC-ness. takes place after the curse. Final chapter is up!
1. Confession

_Everyone always write fics of Ayame confessing to Hatori. Why not the other way around? Takes place AFTER the curse. Not that it really matters in this story, I guess. I also apologize for any OOC-ness, especially with Hatori. Why the heck did I write this in first person?_

_Disclaimer: I don't own Fruits Basket. I own a cat. Two actually. They're really fuzzy. _

_...Anyway, onto the story. _

**AyamexHatori- Broken Hearts**

Hatori Sohma was a lot of things. He was a doctor, he was handsome, he was intelligent, he was respected. And yet, he was in pain. Not pain as in 'ouch-you-stepped-on-my-foot-pain', but 'ouch-my-heart-is-broken pain'. But that sort of pain was common in the family. No one cared about the suffering of others in this family. It was either suck it up or be locked away forever. Or, at least, it used to be that way. Now it was just suck it up or look like an idiot. So Hatori continued to suffer his pain silently, and nobody seemed to care.

You'd think he'd at least open up to a friend of close family member, but unfortunately, that family member was his best friend, as well as the cause of all his suffering and pain. His name was Ayame Sohma.

Hatori's POV

Heartbreak must love me. It gives me no peace whatsoever. A few years back, I met a wonderful woman named Kana. We fell in love and were going to get married, but Akito made sure that didn't happen. Instead, I was blinded in one eye, Kana was driven away and I had to erase her memories.

After the curse was broken, I started dating Kana's friend Mayuko, but that just didn't work out. I already loved someone else, so to me, Mayuko was merely a friend. Our relationship ended after only two months.

And today, I was standing outside a rather scary looking shop, prepared to do something that could very well scar me for life. It had taken me two weeks just to work up the nerve to come. Luckily, I had no time to chicken out, because suddenly, I heard a crash and...

"TOOOOORRIIIIIII-SAAAAAAANN!" Ayame flew out of his shop and bowled straight into me, sending both of us crashing into the ground. After we picked ourselves up and dusted off a bit, Ayame pulled me into a bone-crushing hug.

"Oh, Tori-san, I'm so glad you came!" he gushed, apparently unaware of the fact I needed to breathe.

"Good morning, Ayame-san," I gasped. Ayame (finally) let me breathe again and looked at me and frowned.

"Non, non Tori-san. _Aaya._ Goodness, it's only been two months since we've last seen each other, no need to get all formal again!" Ayame declared.

"Okay, okay. Aaya." I smiled, for even though Ayame was nearly 30, he still loved using nicknames.

"Well, let's go inside. I'll make some tea!" With that, he skipped inside, so I followed him into the bright, scary abyss that was his shop. As I looked around, I saw fabric, sewing supplies and several nurse, maid and other lacy and frilly outfits. But the thing that disturbed me most was that several of those dresses came in men's sizes.

An image of Ayame wearing a skimpy nurse's dress flashed through my mind. I quickly shook my head, trying to dispel the mental image. It should have been terrifying, but...

"Helloooo? Earth to Hatori!" Ayame was now right in front of my face, flailing his arms, trying to get my attention. I jumped back, startled.

"God, Ayame, don't do that!" I muttered.

"Well, how else do I get your attention? Anyway, come into the back. There's tea ready!" He grabbed my hand and dragged me into the back. I just sighed and let him lead me wherever.

"Here you go, Tori-san!" he sang as he handed me a cup of tea.

"Thank you," I said, taking the steaming cup from him and sitting myself at the table he kept in his back room. Ayame poured himself a cup and sat down beside me.

"It's so great to finally see you again! We've both been so busy lately. Why, just last week..." Ayame launched into a story about some crazy customer who ordered 12 dresses. I only half-listened, hearing only his voice and not so much the story. It was then I realized something.

"Hey, Aaya, where's your assistant? What's her name... Mine?" I asked. She was usually with Ayame at the shop.

"Oh, yes, Mine..." his brow furrowed slightly. "It's her day off today."

"I see. And how are things with her?" I remembered that they were going out.

"Well..." Ayame paused. "Lately, things haven't been going so well between us. What about you and Mayuko?"

"We broke up. Things weren't going too well with us either," I explained. I nervously paused, licking my lips. "But... A-ayame..."

"Yes, what is it?" he asked, looking at me, slightly confused.

"I..." Come on Hatori! It's not that hard! Just spit it out and have it over with. This was the chance you've been waiting years for!

"You what?" Ayame asked, now looking at me with concern.

"Hell with it," I muttered, turning to face Ayame. I looked directly into his golden eyes and swallowed the last of my pride.

"Ayame, I realize I could destroy a twenty-something year friendship with you in twenty-something seconds, but I'm willing to take that risk. I can't take this anymore. Ayame, I _love _you. I know I'm the last person you would expect to hear this from, but it's true. Wrong and creepy, but true." After I said that, I leaned in and pulled his face to mine. The kiss was awkward, and Ayame didn't even react. He was like a statue, completely unmoving. When I pulled away, He looked thoroughly shocked.

"T-tori... san? What was...?" he asked shakily, looking somewhat frightened. He covered his face with his hands. "Oh my God..."

"I'm sorry," I whispered, grabbing my coat and running out the door. I think Ayame called my name out a few times, but I just ran until I was safely in my car.

Oh yeah, that's right. I'm gay. Or, I guess, bi. But what mattered right now was that I loved Ayame. Bet you didn't see that coming, stone cold and _straight_ Hatori putting the moves on Ayame, whose appearance practically screams homosexual. Just goes to show you can't trust a book by its cover.

Straight, gay or bi, now I guess it didn't matter. I was rejected, so now my heart had just been broken _again_.

Tears were now flowing freely down my face, so I had to pull over to the side of the road. I wasn't going to get my_ body_ broken by crashing my car. So I sat there in my car, crying out the tears I had held back for years.

Once my sobs ran dry, I tried to compose myself as best I could. I picked up my cell phone and dialled the familiar number.

"Hello, Shigure speaking!" came the cheerful reply on the other end.

"Hello, Shigure. It's Hatori," I said as steadily as possibly.

"Haa-san! Well, this is a surprise! How are- oh, can you hold on a moment?" A loud shattering noise sounded over the phone.

"Akito, can you please refrain from throwing vases? No, I don't care if the painters got the colour in the kitchen wrong!" Shigure's muffled voice called. Shigure and Akito were the only 'Mabudachi' couple to have actually survived. They were moving in together, and I could even fathom what Shigure saw in that crazy Akito. Well, so long as they were both happy.

"Sorry 'bout that. Now, what did you want?" asked Shigure.

"Well... Did you have plans this evening? I need to talk to you about something..." my voice faltered at the end of my sentence.

"What happened?" he asked, his voice suddenly concerned.

"I'll tell you later," I murmured, trying to keep it together.

"I'll come over later. Will you be in your office?"

"Yes."

"See you soon then." He hung up, yelling for Akito to stop breaking the house, she was no better than Yuki and Kyo or something like that.

So having nothing better to do, I started the car again and drove to my office to wait for Shigure.

_To be continued. Please review! Also, should I change the format to third person?  
_


	2. Reflecting

_I'll try and update quickly! Not that I imagine many people are actually reading my stuff. _

_Disclaimer: I don't own Fruits Basket or any of the characters! _

* * *

Ayame's POV

Hatori has always been there for me. He's always been the one who looked out for me, got me out of trouble and been my and Shigure's best friend for who knows how long.

_"Ayame, I _love_ you. I know I'm the last person you'd expect to hear this from, but it's true. Wrong and creepy, but true." _Hatori's confession rang in my ears. I was completely shocked. Hatori loved me?

Maybe that explained why he put up with me and my crazy ideas for so long. But... What about Kana? And more recently, Mayuko? Didn't he love them? So was this love for me a new thing? Thinking about it gave me a headache.

I didn't even think he was serious...until he kissed me. I was, as stated before, completely shocked. I was frozen, my brain was shut off. I barely noticed when he pulled away. I tried to ask him why, but my words came out jumbled and incoherent, or at least, more jumbled and incoherent than usual. (I love run on sentences!) Anyway, I think I tried to call out to him a few times, but I'm not sure that he even heard me.

"Tori-san... I'm sorry..." I whispered to no one in particular. I probably should have gone after him when he left. Did he think I didn't care? I've probably hurt him. At the _very _least I should apologize. But if he gave me the chance, I'd do way more than that.

* * *

_Muahahaha Aaya's POV! But I'll mostly keep it to Hatori. Sorry that the chapter is so short! I will post the next one either on Wednesday, or when I get another review. Whichever comes first. _


	3. Breakdown

_Here's the next chapter! I don't own Fruits Basket! _

Hatori's POV

Shigure was at my office in less than an hour.

"Haa-san!" he sang as soon as I opened the door. In a way, his enthusiasm reminded me of Ayame, though to me, Shigure will be a cousin, a friend and nothing more.

"Shigure. Come in." I held the door for him and brought him into my office. As soon as we sat down though, I immediately burst into a fresh wave of tears. At first, Shigure looked slightly alarmed (who wouldn't if the most level-headed person you knew just broke down?), but after a few seconds, a look of understanding crossed his face.

"Did you confess to Ayame?" he asked softly. I inhaled sharply.

"How did you know? I never told anyone until today..." I tried to remember if I had accidentally let my secret slip, but I couldn't recall even one time when that happened. Shigure laughed.

"As much as you like to think that the family is oblivious, we're not. I'm amazed Ayame didn't even suspect anything!" He laughed again. But as soon as he said that, I suddenly recalled Ayame's stunned expression in reaction to my confessions, how he barely looked at me afterwards. Another tear slid down my face.

"He rejected me, Shigure. It might have even cost us our friendship," I whispered, sobs threatening to explode from my chest. Shigure tentatively pulled me into a hug, letting my cry myself out. If it had been anyone other than Shigure here, it would have been humiliating. Hell, even with Shigure it was humiliating.

"Haa-san, why are you so broken up about this?" he asked. "I thought you always thought of _Kana_ as the love of your life?"

"I don't know. With Ayame, it's different..." I replied. Thinking back, I couldn't remember exactly when I fell in love with Ayame. After Kana? Definitely before Mayuko. Maybe even before Kana? All I knew was that I'd loved him for years, and rejected or not, that wasn't about to change. Why did loving someone have to hurt so much?

"You'll be fine, Hatori," said Shigure, locating a box of tissues and passing them to me. "I'll support you, I promise."

"Thank you, Shigure. I apologize for causing you trouble," I said, wiping my eyes.

"No problem, Haa-san. Don't worry about it, and if you need any moral support, just call me. It's weird not having you your cold, boring, normal self," he assured me. He left after that, leaving me alone with my thoughts. Unfortunately, those thoughts would probably cause another breakdown. I laughed bitterly to myself. I was probably going to dehydrate myself from crying.

_Poor Hatori! It will get better from here on! (I hope)_


	4. Guilt Trip

_Disclaimer: I don't own Fruits Basket and never will._

Ayame's POV

After Hatori left, my senses all returned, my body unfroze and my brain started working again. Great timing. I swear my head was going to explode with worry. I tried calling Hatori's cell phone, but the number was busy. I tried Shigure after that, but all I got was Akito saying he'd gone out. That and something about these stupid painters that got the colour wrong.

So I busied myself around the shop, fixing the displays, attending the odd customer here and there. But the entire time, Hatori was on my mind. How badly did he take my reaction? (Or lack thereof?)

I closed up shop early and went straight home. Once there, I tried calling Hatori several times. First I tried his home number. I got his answering machine.

"Hello, this is Hatori Sohma. Please leave a message at the tone," came his monotone voice. A harsh beep sounded, indicating I could leave a message.

"Tori-san! It's Aaya! I..." I paused, realizing I didn't know what to say. Should I leave a huge message trying to explain myself, or would that seem impersonal?

"I'm sorry," I stammered and hung up. I tried calling his office as well, but no answer there either.

One hour, 23 phone calls and four cups of coffee later, I gave up. Hatori obviously didn't want to talk. That upset my greatly. Usually, Hatori would take all my calls, whether it be for medical reasons, me wanting to chat or even me announcing something great about Yuki. Until today, I've never really understood why he put up with that sort of thing.

I decided to try phoning Shigure once more. Hopefully he could give me some advice or something useful. I dialled the number, praying someone other than Akito would answer.

"Hello?" came the familiar voice. I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Gure-san! It's Ayame!" I sang, trying to sound like my usual happy-go-lucky self.

"Aaya! How are-" Shigure's cheerful voice suddenly dropped to a more serious tone. "What have you done to Hatori?" he growled. I gasped and nearly dropped the phone. How did he know?

"W-who told you about that?" I asked nervously.

"Hatori told me," he replied bluntly. "What did you_ do _to him? I've never seen him like this before. I don't even think he shed this many tears for Kana."

That was like someone had slapped me in the face. I'd made Hatori_ cry?_ I felt dizzy.

"He was crying?" I asked faintly. Somehow, Hatori and tears just didn't go together. It was hard to picture.

"Oh yeah. I've got the tearstains on my kimono to prove it," he retorted.

"Well... Do you at least think he's okay?"

"Hell no, Aaya. You've broken his already broken heart. I don't know how much more he can take." He sighed. "I already told Haa-san I'd support him. So I'll tell you this. Next time I see you two, I don't care whether you're together or not. I just want to see Hatori happy. I definitely don't want the Mabudachi Trio to become the Mabudachi Duo after all this time." With that, he hung up, leaving me feeling guiltier than ever.

I needed to see Hatori. Now.

* * *

_I kind of dislike writing Ayame like this, all sad and stuff. I like him more flamboyant and loud and awesome. Ah well, nothing I can do now but finish the story. _

_Thanks so much to Tuliharja for critiquing my story so far! _

_Final chapter coming soon!_


	5. Understanding

_Here it is! The final chapter! Momiji makes an appearance because I felt like it! And thanks again to my wonderful reviewers! *passes you cookies*_

_Disclaimer: Never owned Fruits Basket, never will_

Hatori's POV

My phone was ringing off the hook for practically the entire afternoon. Every single time, the call display read Sohma, Ayame. I didn't pick up the phone, even though I was longing to. I would have loved to hear his voice, but that would have meant listening to explanations and empty apologies. I wasn't ready to face that yet.

After a while, the phone calls subsided. I wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not. I sunk into the chair at my desk to sort through some medical records. I noticed Ayame was due for his physical examination soon. Wonderful. Wonder how he'll react when I tell him to take his shirt off.

Suddenly, Momiji burst into my office holding his arm, which was bleeding badly.

"Ha'ri! My arm is bleeding! Make it stop!" he cried, tears streaming down his face. I smiled despite myself and the situation, because even though Momiji now (finally) looked his age at 17, his childish personality still shone through.

"Okay, calm down Momiji, come with me." I led him into the examination room where I washed, disinfected and bandaged his cut. I inspected his wound closely. It looked suspiciously like a knife wound.

"Momiji, how did you get that cut?" I asked. Momiji wasn't depressed enough to cut himself on purpose and nobody I knew was stupid or cruel enough to inflict that sort of injury on him.

"Oh yeah! I was trying to teach Yuki to cook, but when we were chopping vegetables, we sort of had a little accident..." he grinned sheepishly at me. I looked at him funny.

"You were trying to teach..._ Yuki..._ to _cook?_ I asked incredulously. He nodded. I smiled at him. "Good luck with that," I told him, once again sinking back into my chair.

"Thanks!" He laughed. As he turned to leave, I let out a sigh. I must have involuntarily looked downcast, because Momiji suddenly turned around and leaned in to inspect my face.

"Ha'ri? What's wrong? Did something happen? With Ayame maybe?" he asked, looking worried.

"How did-" but I let my question drop. At that point, it didn't really matter how he'd found out.

"I'm more observant than you think," Momiji answered, giving me a wink. I sighed again.

"Thank you for your concern, Momiji, but I can handle myself. Anyway, you'd better get back to Yuki, before he burns the kitchen down." As soon as I reminded him about Yuki, his eyes widened.

"Oh no! I almost forgot!" he yelled. "Bye Ha'ri! Feel better!" he gave me a quick hug before sprinting out of my office. I closed the door after him, but as soon as I did that, I heard a crash and Momiji squeaked out, "Ayame!"

Oh, God, he was here. My office door swung open and I stumbled backwards. In the door stood Ayame, his hair messy and eyes wild-or were they red from crying? I held his gaze for a heartbeat until he looked away. Suddenly, he exploded forward and held his face inches from mine.

"Do you love me?" he asked abruptly. I didn't meet his eyes.

"Yes. Now get off me," I replied quietly, shoving him away. I could already feel tears pooling in my eyes. Why was he putting me through this again?

"Ayame, why are you here? What is it you want?" I asked in my coldest voice and crossed the room to sit down. Ayame didn't answer my question, instead he bolted after me and put a hand on either side of my head, pinning me to the chair.

"Ask me to kiss you," he ordered.

"Excuse me? Ayame, you-"

"Just say it!" he interrupted, his voice an octave higher. That was the tone he always used right before he would start bawling.

"Why should I?" I asked.

"Because!" A tear slid down his cheek. "My crazy ideas always get me into trouble. If you say it that means it's okay!" Yep, he was bawling now.

"Okay... Ayame, kiss me..." I said, now rather confused. He leaned forward and pressed his lips to mine. Now it was my turn to turn into a statue, frozen. I was so confused my head spun. Was Ayame kissing me on his own accord or because I'd asked him to? Why did he need confirmation on the fact that I loved him? And why the hell was_ he_ crying now?

Ayame pulled away and wiped at his tears. His golden eyes bore into mine.

"I love you too, Tori-san," he whispered. I stared at him blankly. What did he just say?

"Then why did you act like you did when I told you at your shop?" I asked. He blushed.

"I was kind of really surprised that you loved me back," he explained quietly. "I must have gone into shock or something." I laughed at that. It took a lot to shock Ayame Sohma.

He started to get up, but I didn't let him and pulled him into a hug. I could almost feel my heart piecing back together for the first time since Kana.

"I love you... Aaya." I murmured.

And this time, when our lips connected, I think we both got the reactions we were looking for. I threaded my fingers through Ayame's silky hair, while he caressed my face. He ran his tongue over my bottom lip, asking permission. I granted him it, immediately opening my mouth. When we broke apart, gasping for air, I noticed Ayame was crying again.

"Ayame, what's wrong?" I asked gently, stroking his soft hair.

"Nothing. I'm just happy." He smiled through his tears.

"Me too," I said, pecking him on the cheek. I was the happiest I'd been in years.

...

_Hatori Sohma was also not a lot of things. He wasn't unhappy, he wasn't heartbroken and he certainly was not in pain anymore. His best friend was now more than a best friend and not a source of pain and suffering. Instead, said best friend was now the ultimate source of happiness for Hatori. His name was Ayame Sohma. _

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_Well? What did you think! Now I need some new ideas. Anyone care to suggest some, and not necessarily from Fruits Basket? _

_Please review! *leaves cookies out to lure in lurkers*_


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